Shares in the company, which employs 125,000 people, are down more than 25pc so far in 2014.

Last month Morrisons reported a 7.1pc fall in like-for-like sales as it loses customers to the discounters Aldi and Lidl. The company is attempting to win back shoppers by cutting prices by £1bn, which will be funded through lowering its profit margin and cutting costs.

There is growing pressure on Mr Philips to improve the company’s performance, and chairman Sir Ian Gibson announced he was standing down on the day of the annual meeting

“The company failed to move quickly enough on delivery and small stores, which quickly became standard for supermarkets in the UK.

“Morrisons did have a period where it started carving out differentiation around “freshness” and its market street offering.

“However, recently it seems to have given up on that approach and reverted back to ‘low price’ as a message. “The trouble is, it can’t do price as conveniently as Tesco or as effectively as the discounters – Aldi, Lidl, Iceland. So, what is the benefit of a consumer to shopping in Morrisons? I’m afraid it’s not clear.”

However, shares in the company increased by 4.30, or 2pc, to 192.60p on the back of the jobs announcement.

Morrisons claims that the plan will lead to more staff working on the shop floor with customers and that in-store trials of the new structure have proved popular with shoppers and staff.

Dalton Philips, Morrisons under-pressure chief executive, said it was“ the right time to modernise the way our stores are managed”.

The restructuring involves turning four tiers of store management into one, leaving 2,600 workers without a job.

The plan has been in development for some time and is not a knee-jerk response to the slump in sales for Morrisons so far this year. The company is also modernising its IT system so that shelves are automatically replenished and staff no longer have to order goods with a pen and paper.

Mr Philips said: “These changes will improve our focus on customers and lead to simpler, smarter ways of working.

“We know that moving to the new management structure will mean uncertainty for our colleagues and we will be supporting them through the process.”

The restructuring involves merging department managers and supervisor into a single collection of team managers.

Morrisons claimed that in-store trials showed the system led to “stronger performance” and that staff “appreciated the clearer lines of responsibility”.

In total, an estimated 15,000 staff will have their roles affected by the change.

Morrisons claimed that some of the staff who lose their job could be offered roles in new convenience stores. The company will create 1,000 jobs in new M Local stores this year and 3,000 in supermarkets.